Seam binder and shirrer attachment



Apnl 17, 1962 G. CANTIL 3,029, 6

' SEAM BINDER AND SHIRRER ATTACHMENT Filed July 20, 1960 FIGI INVENTOR.

GEORGE CANTIL FIG 5 3,029,760 SEAM BINDER AND S R ATTACHMENT George Cantil, 54 Mansfield A e., Roosevelt, N.Y. Filed July 20, 1960, Ser. No. 44,230 2 (Ilaims. 31. 112152) This invention relates to aseam binder attachment for sewing machines adapted to shirr or gather the material.

More particularly the invention relates to means for feeding a seam binding with infinitely adjustable tension to provide adjustable shirring or gathering of the material onto the binding.

Conventional shirring or gathering attachments generally have a separate foot for feeding the material as shown in Pat. No. 2,547,562.

The present invention eliminates this complex mechanism and utilizes only the feed means in the sewing machine. In the present device the binder tape is fed on top of the edge of the material to be shirred. The binder tape is adjustably retarded by a spring loaded brake sothat the sheet of material feeds faster than the tape which causes the material to be gathered or shirred in an infinitely adjustable manner. The present device may be mounted on any conventional sewing machine.

Conventional shirring devices generally only have three or four steps of adjustment and the machine must be stopped to make these adjustments. In the present device the adjustment is infinitely variable and the adjustment may be made whilethe machine is running. As a matter of fact different degrees of shirring may be made in the same piece, tor instance. for form fitting a garment. With this procedure the shirring is adjusted during the processing and there is no discontinuity in the appearance as the adjustment may be made gradually.

The present device is especially useful in hemming flared skirts, since all the fullness may be taken up without pleats.

Accordingly a principal object of the invention is to provide new and improved seam binder attachments for sewing machines.

Another object of the invention is to provide new and improved seam binder attachments for sewing machines comprising means for adjustably retarding a binder tape relative a sheet of cloth material which it is desired to shirr.

Another object of the invention is to provide new and improved shirring means which are infinitely adjustable.

Another object of the invention is to provide new and improved shirring means which may be adjusted during operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide new and improved shirring or gathering attachments for conventional sewing machines.

Another object of the invention is to provide new and improved shirring attachment means wherein the degree of shirring or gathering may be gradually adjusted to provide a plurality of degrees of shirring without any discontinuity in the appearance.

Another object of the invention is to provide seam binder attachment means comprising a base member adapted to be adjustably connected to a sewing machine, a guide member for binder tape mounted on said base member and an adjustable spring loaded brake on said guide member adapted to apply braking pressure on said tape, and means to feed said tape and the sheet of cloth material to be shirred together to the work location at the needle of the sewing machine.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from the following specification and drawings of which:

3,029,760 1C6 Patented Apr. 17, 1962 FIG. 1 is a top view of the embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is the front view of the embodiment of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a side view of an embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a side view of a piece of material shirred or gathered according to the invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrative of the use of the invention.

Referring to the figures the invention generally comprises a base member 1 having a mounting slot 2 which is adapted to be connected to the table S of a conventional sewing machine with mounting screws in the same manner that other conventional attachment feet are connected to the sewing machine. A guide member 3 is adjustably connected to the base member 1 by means of the slots 4 and 5 and the screws 4 and 5'.

Referring to FIG. 3 the guide member 3 tilts up at an angle and thentilts back at an angle below the horizontal. An extension member 3' extends up from the member 3 and then forward, forming a semi-enclosed area.

A brake member 6 is loosely mounted on top of the guide member 3 by means of the screw 7. -The brake member curves down to the left in FIG. 2 and then parallel the portion of the guide member 3 which slopes downwardly to the rear. Pressure may be applied to the brake member 6 by means of the stud 8 which is mounted in the guide'member 3' and which extends through a hole in the brake 6. A spring 10 is mounted on the stud 8 and a cap 11 is also threaded onto the'stud 8 so that when the cap 11 is screwed down adjustable pressure is applied as illustrated by the arrow 12 to the tape T which rides along the top of the guide 3. A handle 19 is connected to the brake 6 to facilitate lifting the brake 6 to permit easy insertion of the tape T.

The tape T is fed from the right hand of FIGS. 1 and 2 through the guide wire 13 along the top of the backward sloping portion of the guide 3, and along edge of guide 9. At the lefthand side of FIGS. 1 and 2 the tape T is passed under a wire guide 13' which is mounted on the guide member 3 at a 45 angle to the direction of motion of the tape. The tape is then looped over the guide member 13' so that it makes a turn illustratedin FIG. 1. The tape is then inserted through a feeding sleeve or tunnel foot 14 connected to the guide 13 which leads the tape to the location of the needle N of the sewing machine. The sleeve or tunnel foot 14 has a folded over upper portion 14 which leaves a slot aperture for easy insertion of the tape T from the side.

Also, at the lefthand side of FIGS. 1 and 2 and connected to the guide member 3 are a pair of guides for the cloth material M. These comprise a lower guide foot 16 and an upper guide 17 which are adapted to lead the edge of the material M underneath the tape T being fed from the sleeve 14 so that both the materialM and the tape 3 are fed to the work location indicated by the needle N of the sewing machine which is operated in conventional manner. The cloth material M is fed past the needle by the conventional feeding means of the sewing machine which is not shown and the tape is also fed through frictional contact with the material M due to the pressure of the conventional pressure foot 20 of the sewing machine.

The shirring or gathering of the material M with respect to the tape T as shown in FIG. 4 takes place because the material M is fed faster than the tape T since the tape is retarded by means of the brake 6 which applies an adjustable braking or retarding or squeezing of the tape T against the backward sloping portion of the guide member 3 as indicated by the arrow 12, in FIG. 2. The frictional contact of the brake 6 may be adjusted by adjusting the adjustment head 11 on the stud 8, thereby 3 applying pressure to the top of the brake 6 through the spring 10. This adjustment may be made while the ma? chine is running so that any degree of shirring may be obtained, for instance the two degrees of gathering shown in'FIG. 4 which illustrate a rather abrupt change. The adjustment may also be made gradually so that the degree of gathering may be changed without any discontinuity between the degrees of shirring or gathering.

The present device can also provide a straight flat binder by removing the tension.

FIG. 5 illustrates the use of the shirring on the bottom hem of a flared skirt 20. The tape T is put on with the present device adjusted to provide proper shirring. The hem is then formed by folding over and stitching this tape to the skirt. No pleats are needed.

Therefore, the present invention shows a seam binder and shirring attachment which may be used by unskilled workers with little or no training. The device of the present invention is extremely simple to operate and almost foolproof since the material is automatically located by the guiding feet. Therefore the device may be used by housewives, tailors and manufacturers with relatively unskilled labor.

The present device is simple in construction and operation, economical to manufacture and of strong durable construction. Also the present device may be used for making straight hems or straight seam binding interchangeably with shirring without having to change the attachment foot. This provides a great saving of time and convenience as the changing of the attachment feet on a machine is a tedious and time consuming operation.

Many modifications may be made by those who desire to practice the invention without departing from the scope thereof which is defined by the following claims.

I claim: a

1. Seam binder attachment means for a sewing machine comprising a fiat base member having means to adjustably connect to a sewing machine, a guide member for binder ber being located to guide said tape along a second direction substantially perpendicular to said first direction, said extension member being oriented to said guide member to change the direction of said tape to align said tape with the edge of said cloth piece.

2. Seam binder attachment means for a sewing machine comprising a flat base member having means to adjustably connect to a sewing machine, a guide member for binder tape mounted on said base member, an adjustable spring loaded. brake on said guide member adapted to apply braking pressure on a substantial portion of said tape, a tunnel foot member connected to said guide member adapted to lead said tape to the needle of said sewing machine, said tunnel foot member being slotted to permit easy insertion of said tape, and means connected to said guide member below said extension member to locate a cloth piece fed along a first direction under said tape, said guide member being located to guide said tape along a second direction substantially perpendicular to said first direction, said extension member being oriented at an angle of i to said guide member to change the direction of said tape to align said tape with the edge of said cloth piece.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 8 ,6476 Br k et -,-.-.-----r--.-- D c- 1 89,4 Lo rr Ap 2 8 2 9 1 B r Nov- .5 R 2, 2 S aman --V-,--.-.-V- D c- 24, 5 

